Thanks fellows. Yesterday was quite a bootslog for him, and he finally killed this cow just below a ridge I killed my first elk on years ago!

And five years to the day from when he killed his first {a split top spike}!

Most popular calibers before the '90s here were the .30-06 for sure at the top. Then maybe whatever was in the stable for deer; .270 & .308. Most popular "magnum" was {probably still is} .300 Winchester Magnum. Common runners up to the most popular werre the 6.5x55, and .25-06, a few 8x57's, and of course, the .30-30. A few 243's {always got mixed reviews, a bunch of guys tried it, but few kept using it for long on elk}, .338's, .375 H&H's.

Then, the gun caliber boom of the 90's hit and along with it, a high cotton economy, and guys started buying every bullet-tosser they could lay their hands on, to try. The short mags, the Ultramags, etc.

My son has a thing for Round Nose bullets. This one was taken with a 180 Winchester Power Point handload. It is a very good bullet. Shot struck high shoulder, bone almost all the way, and left. In this case, the exit was a bit bigger than caliber. Critter dropped to the shot and he took care of it with the knife.

He actually spotted the smoke blowing thru the trees {...elk...} from high on a ridge where he caught a quick glmpise of the herd far below thru a break in the timber. He took a few seconds to kneel down, ask God's help in the harvest, and took off down the mountain. I have personally never seen a human being cover ground through the tumbled mess and wreck of a mountain forest like this kid can so when he told me he ran DOWN for all he was worth I knew it had to be quite a sight. He had to judge where they might be when he got there {a quarter mile away or so}, and did, popping his head over a hump of grass and spotting the caboose of the train just 35 yards away. Gun up, crosshairs on shoulder, cow down. Then the knife and another moment on his knees.

These things are a big deal to us, and we know the best days are probably behind us now until we get the scourge taken care of.